Creation is a sacred act. I seek to be a channel for that creative force, to be in union with the Divine. My Life, and my Art, is the result of that union.

My Art always begins with a divine spark, ignited by my environment, and fanned into a flame by my inner universe. Sometimes the visions come in a landslide rush, or sometimes slow, like honey. After the vision comes the hunt for its realization; carving it out from base matter, shaping it with my Will, smoothing it with the brush of my imagination. I try to let the vision guide my hand, allowing it to sing itself into existence. I would describe my work as transpersonal -- reaching beyond the individual, concerned especially with esoteric experiences & different states of consciousness beyond the usual limits of ego and personality. Thus my art is an attempt to connect and be guided by the Divine, and to inspire others to seek their own personal Divinity.

I believe it is important for any art to reflect the time it is created in, as well as to be relevant in terms of the recurring issues that humanity faces. The most prominent trend I see in our society today is that of synthesis -- the bringing together of diverse elements into a new whole. Due to the internet, media, and the availability of varied literature, we exist in a sea of information. At no other time has a society had so many choices of “what to know.” Because of this, we gather various bits of information, which we then assemble into a new personal gestalt. The faith, art, music, and even clothing of today’s youth especially reflect this. My visual language reflects this as well, by knitting together diverse symbolic systems. It is through this modern filter that humanity continues to search for meaning, for the end of suffering, and for the evolvement of Consciousness. These eternal concepts and the quest to understand them form the thematic core of my work.

In a sense each piece I create describes a portion of my journey, a shamanic quest to comprehend the direct experience of my psyche. We truly “know” something only when we have directly experienced it. The information that we learn from books and the theories of others may prepare us for the journey of life, but it is only through gnosis—direct experience—that information gains meaning and becomes knowledge. Gnosis is the knowledge acquired by the Consciousness through the mind, the heart and the body, and it is through these three centers that art has the capability to change lives. Art can touch a person’s heart, mind, and body so strongly, that the spirit trembles. Thus, it is through the vehicle of Art that I seek to plant a seed within the viewer, one that encourages looking deeper into the mysteries of themselves and the universe, and eventually one that will inspire an awakening of Consciousness.

-Dan Cohen 2006